Google eliminates 35% of managers as layoffs and buyouts reshape workforce

Just four months after Google laid off hundreds in Android, Pixel, and Chrome units amid its strategic AI push, the company has quietly made another sweeping move—this time targeting its management ranks. More than one-third of managers overseeing small teams have been eliminated, CNBC reported, citing an executive from the company.

“Right now, we have 35% fewer managers, with fewer direct reports than at this time a year ago,” Brian Welle, vice president of people analytics and performance, told employees in an all-hands meeting, according to audio reviewed by CNBC. “So a lot of fast progress there.”

The cuts reflect Google’s push to strip away layers of bureaucracy, keeping fewer leaders spread across larger teams. Many managers whose positions were eliminated remain at the company as individual contributors, according to someone familiar with the matter.

Inside the company, the shake-up has left employees pressing for answers about job security, “internal barriers,” and the company’s culture, CNBC reported. Welle said the goal is to keep leadership as a smaller share of the overall workforce going forward. CEO Sundar Pichai backed that approach, saying Google needs “to be more efficient as we scale up so we don’t solve everything with headcount.”

Google Restructures Workforce: 35% Fewer Managers, More Buyouts, Leaner Teams

This is the latest step in a cost-cutting strategy that began in 2023, when Google eliminated about 6% of its workforce. Since then, Alphabet has trimmed jobs across multiple units, offered buyouts, and slowed hiring. Finance chief Anat Ashkenazi, who joined last year, told investors in October that she planned to push cost reductions “a little further.”

Executives confirmed last week that voluntary exit programs (VEPs) have now been extended to ten product areas, including search, marketing, hardware, and people operations. Between 3% and 5% of employees in those teams have accepted buyouts this year, according to Chief People Officer Fiona Cicconi. She called the program “quite successful” and said more could follow.

Pichai told employees the voluntary exits were introduced after staff pushed back against blanket layoffs. “It gives people agency, and I’m glad to see it’s worked out well,” he said.

Cicconi added that many who chose the program cited wanting a career break or time with family. “It’s actually quite interesting to see who’s taking a VEP,” she said.

But morale remains uneven. Some employees raised comparisons to Meta’s “recharge” sabbatical, which offers staff a month-long paid break after five years. Google executives pushed back, saying their leave policies and vacation days are sufficient. “We’re very confident that our current offering is competitive,” said Alexandra Maddison, Google’s senior director of benefits.

Pichai, addressing the comparison directly, quipped to employees: “Should we incorporate all policies of Meta while we’re at it? Or should we only pick and choose the few policies we like?” The remark drew laughs but underscored a deeper tension—the balance between trimming costs and maintaining a culture that employees feel invested in.

Alphabet shares have climbed 10% this year, after surging 36% in 2024 and 58% the year before, leaving investors satisfied even as the workforce continues to shrink. Inside the company, though, the message is clear: Google wants fewer managers, more output per employee, and a culture that embraces efficiency over headcount.

Meanwhile, the workforce shift at Google isn’t happening in isolation. Big Tech has been pivoting—quietly but consistently—toward areas like AI infrastructure and data centers while pulling back from segments that once got all the love.IN March, Business Insider reported that Amazon was preparing to cut 14,000 management roles as part of a cost-saving plan aimed at trimming $3.5 billion in annual expenses.